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Hardcore Professional Wrestling Federation
The Hardcore Professional Wrestling Federation (HPWF) was an AOL Dice/RPG Federation originally formed in 1997. Events were held "live" in AOL chatrooms on designated days and matches were conducted using AOL's dice with a points system devised by the creators. Members of the federation could participate as either real pro-wrestlers (ex. HBK, The Rock, Hulk Hogan, Sting, etc.) or their own original creations. Similar to the format of televised professional wrestling, the HPWF members competed in storylines of their own creation and for Championship titles. The chatroom "events" were scheduled on days such as Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays and conducted in a televised fashion with matches, interviews, speeches and other storyline progressions taking place between the various characters. There would also be monthly "Pay-Per-View" events to highlight the ultimate conclusion (or continuation) of such storylines. The HPWF also took advantage of AOL's e-mail system for its characters to utilize as a means of character communication via "RP E-Mails". These mails typically consisted of the characters in numerous wrestling-related situations (interviews, boasting, documentary, commercial, etc.) very similar to that you would see on television. The RP E-Mails were at one point a big requirement for maintaining activity and title contender determination for the federation. The AOL e-mail system was also used to deliver weekly event cards and scheduled monthly "Pay-Per-Views". Before HPWF - The WCF and the WWA Prior to the HPWF's inception in 1997, the federation's roots took hold within the World Championship Federation (WCF) in 1995-1996. The federation originated the "2d70" dice system that the HPWF would further expand upon and consisted of original created characters only. Notable characters included the Bleud Brothers, Matthew Low, Kat, and Panzer. Issues with the federation's leadership would cause the WCF to become defunct which then reformed itself (with the same WCF owner/creator) as the World Wrestling Alliance (WWA). The WWA expanded upon the RP E-Mail elements and saw the addition of several popular characters who would become founding members of the HPWF - Blake Warren and Selamis Diamond to name a few. Unfortunately, the WWA President (Kat) became unavailable for numerous events and a lot of scheduling and other responsibilities fell to the members themselves who would find themselves in contention with Kat when she would occasionally show up to maintain control. Eventually the frustrations of several members led them to disassociate from the WWA and form the Professional Wrestling Association (PWA) under the leadership of Fyrie (James). The WWA became defunct as the President's lack of attendance grew and WWA members left for the more active PWA. The PWA & Formation of the HPWF The PWA was an almost instant success, maintaining regularly scheduled events with the highest quality of characters from the WCF and WWA as well as new members joining daily. Keeping in tradition with the WCF and WWA, the PWA employed only "original" creations of characters and expanded their roster quickly. However, there was trouble during the early days when the former WWA President returned to reform the WWA under her leadership. Members still loyal to her would rejoin the WWA in favor of the rookie PWA, however it wouldn't take long before the WWA President vanished once again and members were quick to rejoin the PWA. Unfortunately, PWA Creator/Owner Fyrie did not escape from the tarnished image of his predecessor. Though very fair and dedicated, Fyrie began to no-show and a lot of his responsibilities (event scheduling and management) were picked up by his members who did not want to see another federation fall. The PWA saw an explosion of membership size, activity and creativity that the WCF and WWA never witnessed. Notable events of the PWA include the creation of the xWa (X-Treme Wrestling Alliance, a nWo-like stable) heel group under the leadership of Kain and Michael "Blood" Bleud, with members including OuTcAsT, Matthew Low,"Ballistic" Blake Warren, Panzer and others. As well as numerous Pay-Per-View events and other successful gatherings that boosted the federation's community. Eventually Fyrie's disappearance and lack of interest and guidance led to several members discussing a possible change. Darren (the handler of "Kain Bleud") proposed the idea of the Hardcore Professional Wrestling Federation, retaining many of the principals, rules, and regulations of the PWA but including the additional use of real-life wrestlers. Darren however felt that Thomas ("Panzer") would be better suited as the President and leader of the federation. Numerous other PWA members agreed and pledged to join the new federation. With that, the HPWF was born. HPWF Early Days With the birth of the HPWF a major transition occurred. Many handlers put aside their original characters in favor of role-playing as their professional wrestling heroes. For example, Kain Bleud (Darren) and Michael Bleud (Mikey) became Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels and Blake Warren (Jim) became the Rock. The fledgling organization came hot off the heels of the PWA's success, expanding on many rules and regulations and updating the "2d70" dice system. Several notable fictional characters and longtime members joined such as the popular Ashe Knite (Tony) and even longtime PWA originals like Selamis Diamond (Travis) stuck around with their creations. Along with the additional of Tommy Dreamer (Erik, future HPWF President/Owner) and many other members, the roster grew vastly past that of the WCF, WWA, and PWA combined boasting around 50+ actual and ACTIVE members (this does not include multiple characters). Like a curse, HPWF President Thomas (formerly "Panzer", now the Big Boss Man) also began to no-show and lag in his responsibilities, leading to a council of discussion between the former WCF, WWA and PWA members who all then agreed when Darren said that he would take the reigns of his creation and run it as the HPWF President and Owner. Under Darren, the HPWF now had a focused and dedicated President to the federation who would manage all the events, scheduling, title contenders and the day-to-day responsibilities of the Dice/RPG Federation. The HPWF carried a blend of fictional and non-fictional characters and even translated over some real-life feuds and connections between them. Under a reliable structure, the HPWF introduced two "shows", Saturday's "HPWF Shockwave" was its primary show and "HPWF Warzone" held on Wednesday served as its secondary event. Monthly "Pay-Per-Views" would take the stead of "Shockwave" on Saturdays. Notable Pay-Per-View events followed real-life promotions with a showcase event in March/April called "WrestleFest", a "Royal Rumble"-style show in January called "BattleZone" and a rotating variety of event names such as "Hardcore Hell", "Hallowicked", and "Tidal Wave". Several Pay-Per-View events also had an associated "theme" to go with their name, such as "Tidal Wave" being held on a cruise ship. The HPWF, under new leadership, continued with modifying the dice rules in order to better coordinate matches for both time and the handlers. For example, counters were allowed in a limited amount, regular matches were scored to 30 and Champions also had a higher standard dice roll as an added "Championship perk". During the first months of the federation, the rules were tested and tried until they were refined for all the handlers. The HPWF featured a World Heavyweight Championship, Intercontinental Championship, Hardcore Championship, World Tag Team Championships, and Women's World Championship during its inception. Other titles such as the Television Championship and Cruiserweight Championship would be introduced later on. The HPWF grew vastly during its early days. With the fine balance of veteran WCF, WWA, and PWA members finally being able to play their wrestling heroes and the addition of eager newcomers. The HPWF burst onto the AOL Dice/RPG Federation scene with a reputation of being reliable, mature, and featuring some of the best organization and skilled role-players. (to be continued) Notable Members and their Most Recognized Characters *Darren (HPWF President: Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Kevin "Kain" Bleud) *Erik (HPWF President: Shawn Michaels, Tommy Dreamer) *Travis (HPWF President: Shane Douglas, Selamis Diamond) *Tony (HPWF President: Ashe Knite, Christian Cage) *Jim aka Jimbo (The Rock, "Ballistic" Blake Warren) *Matt aka Mattata (Triple H, Rey Mysterio Jr.) *Justin (Justin Credible, Lance Storm, Chris Jericho) *Scott aka Scoot (Sting) *Mikey (Shawn Michaels, the Undertaker, Chris Jericho, Michael "Blood" Bleud) *Phillip aka Frost (SeVeN, Xpac) *Sean (Scott Storm) *Eryn (Stephanie McMahon) *TFH aka The Flyin Hawaiian (Scott Hall, Edge) *Chris aka Mini-Chris (Kurt Angle, Shane Helms) *Tiffany (Flame) *Marshall/Andrew (Ultimo Dragon) *Ein (Kid Tornado) *Marc (Venom) *Jake (Chris Jericho) *Rogg (Rogg McMahon) *Mike (Bret "The Hitman" Hart) *Jack (Slash) *Matt (Toxic)